This is Obviously a Test

"...Jing Hei."

"What."

"This village, is empty."

"I can see."

"What are we, supposed to attack."

"I don't know."

Jing Hei looked at the deserted village speechlessly.

He had his suspicions when he first glanced at the obviously empty village from afar. But, out of disbelief, he went against his logic and chose to go regardless.

"Jing Hei."

"What."

"When do I attack?"

"..."

Jing Hei did not expect that the entire village would up and leave. In the first place, how could they have known that he was going to attack them?

There must be some other reason, like getting fed up with the beast attacks and going to live somewhere far away instead.

"Jing Hei."

"What."

"You failed your mission."

"..."

"What are you going to tell Senior-Uncle?"

"#*&%@#?!!"

This asshole! Jing Hei raised his fist against the musclebrain Da Jirou.

"Stop rubbing salt in the wound! In the first place, it was you who arrived late, giving them enough time to evacuate!"

"Pushing the blame onto others is very irresponsible, Jing Hei."

"What were you doing anyway?!"

"I was cultivating diligently and didn't notice the time passing."

Jing Hei lamented his current situation. It seemed that the saying was true—what one should fear the most was not a strong opponent, but a pig teammate. All of his planning and preparation fell flat the moment the villagers decided to leave and he wasn't there to stop them.

"Jing Hei, stop being depressed and find out a solution already."

Jing Hei clicked his tongue. For a massive mobilization like this, it was inevitable that they'd leave tracks.

The two followed the footprints until it led them to the forest.

"I don't like where this is going."

Until finally, they could no longer follow the tracks. A massive barrier blocked their way.

"Ah, it seems the villagers have colluded with the hidden expert."

Jing Hei pieced things together and sighed.

His anger and frustration earlier was unreasonable—if the hidden expert had been to the village, there was no chance they would have won anyway.

"Let's withdraw. Until the barrier drops, there's nothing more we can do."

"Aiya, Junior Brother Jing, you've wasted my time."

Jing Hei decided not to answer. His anger and frustration was reasonable after all.

.....

Meanwhile, inside the barrier.

Liu Feng and the villagers stopped within a thicket somewhere in the barrier.

With a smirk, he teased Shu Dashou, who was beside him.

"I thought you wouldn't abandon your homes? (LOL)"

"That's because you used underhanded methods—!"

Shu Dashou stopped rambling once he saw Liu Feng's cold gaze. He could only grumble inwardly, cursing the eccentric Liu Feng.

How unfair! There really is no justice in this world.

As the villagers discussed amongst themselves, Liu Feng shouted, "Everyone, be orderly!"

To which most of the village instantly responded and stood straight.

"First order of business—paying respects."

Liu Feng only mentioned that the villagers needed to pay respects to his dead comrades that died in this place, elaborating no further. Despite that, the villagers willingly complied without any question.

Seeing so many people wishing his dead friends a good afterlife made Liu Feng a little teary-eyed.

"Ahem, second order of business—place to stay. You lot will be staying here for a whole two months, I can't just leave you to sleep on the ground. Think of the elderly and the children, people. Think of them!"

Nobody said anything otherwise, who are you arguing against... The villagers stayed quiet.

"And so, the first task you must do is—clear out this area! The area can be as wide as needed for you all to live comfortably. The only requirement for now is that this area must be mostly void of trees. After that, you can all build your own homes. We will be doing this for the next week."

The villagers felt a weird disconnect. Aren't we here to cultivate?

In fact, Shu Dashou voiced this out.

"Senior Liu, isn't this just labor?"

Liu Feng shook his head. "Tsk tsk tsk, you're still a greenhorn, Shu Dashou. This is, in fact, part of the training."

"What exactly is being trained here...?"

"Of course! I need to ascertain your basic living skills. Only then will I be comfortable."

"But, we already always do this in the village? Cutting down trees for lumber and building houses, that is."

"Ahem, ahem, it's also a test of patience and endurance, very important traits to have for a cultivator."

Shu Dashou was totally unconvinced and was about to open his mouth and ask more questions, but discovered that Liu Feng's expression was worsening, and decided to keep to himself. He joined the workforce to get away from Liu Feng.

Meanwhile, Liu Feng chuckled to himself.

"Heh, I'm so smart. They didn't catch my bluff. I'm obviously just using them for free labour."

The sight of the villagers clearing up the forest brought a tear to Liu Feng's eye. Finally, he was free from the job of cleaning the sect!

There were tons of suckers willing to do work for him for free! The thought of cultivation blinded their reasoning!

After letting them build their houses, Liu Feng planned to make them rebuild the more important structures of a sect.

Well, it wasn't like he was taking advantage of them completely. In Liu Feng's perspective, the manual labor was payment for protecting them and letting them all inside the barrier. It was a win-win.

Of course, conveniently forgetting the fact that the reason they were in danger in the first place was because of him...

Looking at the self-satisfied Liu Feng made Shu Dashou a bit irked. He swung his axe, felling a tree with one swing.

Shu Dashou was a bit frustrated. Although Liu Feng's attitude was definitely different and way more eccentric than all the cultivators he had met, he was taking advantage of them all the same.

Was it just something that happens once you get powerful enough? If so, what'll happen to his daughter?

With a sigh, Shu Dashou swung his axe one more time.